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CHARLESTON, SC – OCTOBER 31: Republican incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks to supporters at the Charleston County Victory Office during a campaign bus tour on October 31, 2020 in Charleston, South Carolina. Graham is in a closely watched race against democratic challenger Jaime Harrison. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
By Fran Beyer | NEWSMAX<\/p>\n
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday he would \u201cleave town\u201d to deny a voting quorum on a Democrat-led $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that would greenlight a \u201ctax and spend dream of the socialist left.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a fiery renunciation of President Joe Biden\u2019s social spending plan on Fox News\u2019 \u201cSunday Morning Futures,\u201d Graham said he would do what Texas Democrats did to avoid a vote on a controversial new voting law \u2014 skip out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf for some reason they pass reconciliation, budget resolution to bring that bill to the floor of the United States Senate, the $3.5 trillion bill, you’ve got have a quorum to pass a bill in the Senate, I would leave before I would let that happen,\u201d Graham vowed. \u201cSo to my Republican colleagues, we may learn something from our Democratic friends in Texas when it comes to avoiding a $3.5 trillion tax and spend package. Leave town.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 50 Texas lawmakers arrived in Washington last Monday after leaving their home state on a private charter flight. The numbers meant the House would not have enough lawmakers in attendance to conduct business and could not, at least for now, vote on an overhaul of election laws.<\/p>\n
The cross-country exodus was the second time that Democratic lawmakers have staged a walkout on the voting overhaul, a measure of their fierce opposition to proposals they say will make it harder for young people, people of color and people with disabilities to vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cHell yeah, I would leave,\u201d Graham said of how he\u2019d handle the reconciliation vote in the Senate. \u201cI would use everything in my toolbox. It’s got nothing to do with infrastructure. It’s a tax and spend dream of the socialist left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it takes me not showing up to stop that, I will do it because if we pass that bill, you’re going to have inflation through the roof and if they put legalizing illegal immigrants in that bill, you’re going to have a complete run on the border,\u201d he asserted. \u201cIt will be throwing jet fuel on a fire, called illegal immigration. It would lead to an invasion of illegal immigrants if we put amnesty in the $3.5 trillion bill so I would do anything I could to stop that.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Graham, Senate Democrats \u201cdon\u2019t want to work with us,\u201d and President Joe Biden\u2019s tenure so far has been \u201cdisappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was part of a\u00a0bipartisan group that passed a\u00a0comprehensive immigration bill\u00a0and we spent $40 billion to\u00a0secure the border,\u201d he recounted, \u201c[Sen. Charles] Schumer [D.N.Y.} and [Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick] Durbin voted for a\u00a0$40 billion border security bill\u00a0that built walls, did away with\u00a0catch and release.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo my Democratic colleagues, if you want to provide legal status for the DACA population, I will work with you. I want you to finish the wall which needs to be finished, and end catch and release for the asylum seekers which will shut off a wave of illegal immigration and I will vote for DACA legalization,\u201d he vowed.<\/p>\n
But, Graham said, securing the border is \u201cdead and\u00a0buried and replaced by the party of open borders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you voted for Joe Biden,\u00a0thinking he would be a moderate\u00a0voice and would have led us to a\u00a0centrist agenda, you’ve got to\u00a0be sorely disappointed because\u00a0there’s nothing moderate about\u00a0the Biden administration,\u201d Graham asserted.<\/p>\n
Graham also derided Biden\u2019s criticism of new voting laws in some states.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s trying to change the\u00a0subject because he can’t talk\u00a0about his policies,\u201d Graham charged. \u201cHis policies are failing at the\u00a0border, rampant inflation, you\u00a0can’t walk out in the streets\u00a0without worrying about getting\u00a0shot or your child kidnapped,\u00a0radical Islam is on the rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can’t talk about policy because he’s failed on the policy front so he’s trying to make all of us racist as Republicans. \u2026 Demagoguery. It’s offensive to me. What he’s saying is a lie. He’s trying to change the subject to try to talk about anything but his failed presidency. We’re coming back in 2022 and I hope to God [former] President [Donald] Trump runs in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n